Kia Paint Code: Where to Find It and How to Read It
The exact label to look for on a Kia, how the code is printed, what people mistake it for, and 12 verified Kia colour codes.
NHTSA vPIC has no colour field, so no VIN decoder returns one. The label on the vehicle is the reliable route.
On a Kia the paint code is printed on the black Kia Motors Corporation certification label inside the driver's door jamb, usually at the upper right next to the word PAINT. It is two or three characters mixing letters and digits — UD, 3D, SWP, ABP, C7S. The 17-character VIN itself does not encode it. Sites promising a paint code from a VIN alone are reading a dealer build record or guessing.
Where is the paint code on a Kia?
- Driver-side door jamb (primary). Open the driver's door and read the black Kia Motors Corporation certification label on the B-pillar face the door latches against — the same label that carries the VIN, GVWR and build date. The paint code sits at the upper right next to the heading PAINT. AutomotiveTouchup and YouCanic both state this is the location for every Kia model they list, from the 1990s Sephia, Sportage and Spectra through the current Telluride, Sportage, EV6 and Carnival, with no model-year move. No source found places it anywhere else as the standard spot.
- Door hinge side and door edge (same opening). ScratchesHappen also lists the driver-side door hinge area, where the door attaches to the body, as a place the label turns up. Some cars carry a second barcode information sticker on the door's own shut face rather than the pillar. Check both faces of the door opening before deciding the label is gone. Single-source, so treat as a check rather than the expected position.
- If the label is missing or unreadable. No Kia-specific source places the code under the hood, in the trunk or in the glove box, so do not go hunting there first — those are generic multi-brand fallbacks. On a repainted or resprayed car, or one whose jamb has been repaired, the label is often gone entirely. A Kia dealer parts department can pull the code from the factory build record using the VIN; that record, not the VIN's own 17 characters, is where the colour actually lives.
How to read the Kia paint code
Two or three characters, letters and digits mixed, no dash or space, printed beside the field heading PAINT — usually the upper right of the black VIN label (some labels head the block "EXTERIOR PAINT COLORS" with the code above it). Roughly through the 2000s Kia used two characters (UD, EB, 3D, 9H); from about 2010 onward three (SWP, ABP, KLG, C7S, GWP). Ignore the VIN, the build date, the model/type line, and the interior trim code sharing the same label — none of those is the paint code, and the trim code is the one people most often copy by mistake.
- Open the driver's door and find the black Kia Motors Corporation label on the pillar face the door latch closes against — it is the label carrying the VIN, the GVWR figures and the month/year of manufacture.
- Look at the upper right of that label for the heading PAINT. The two- or three-character code sits next to it. On some labels the block is headed EXTERIOR PAINT COLORS with the code printed above the words.
- Copy the code exactly, character for character, including digits that look like letters. Do not copy the VIN, the model/type line, or the interior trim code printed on the same label — the trim code is the usual mix-up.
- If the car is two-tone, note that Kia prints one combination code, not two. Take that code to a paint supplier and ask which body code and which roof code it resolves to before ordering anything.
- Confirm the code maps to your model year's colour name in a paint cross-reference, or have a Kia dealer parts department check it against the VIN build record, before you buy paint.
- Spray or dab a test card and hold it against an unweathered painted area — inside the fuel door or along a door shut line — before touching a visible panel. Pearl and tri-coat whites in particular will not match if the mid-coat is skipped.
Common Kia paint codes
| Code | Kia colour name | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| SWP | Snow White Pearl | 2010 to present, across most of the line. Three-stage: white base, pearl mid-coat, clear. Cannot be matched with a single-stage white. |
| UD | Clear White | Long-running solid white, 1998 to present. Also printed as 1D on some builds — the two codes refer to the same colour. |
| ABP | Aurora Black Pearl | 2013 to present. Carnival, EV6, Forte, Niro, Rio, Sorento, Stinger and others. |
| EB | Ebony Black | In use since the mid-1990s and still current on K5, Sorento, Sportage and Telluride. |
| KLG | Steel Gray | 2020 onward. EV6, Forte, Niro, Rio, Seltos, Soul, Sportage. |
| KDG | Gravity Gray | 2019 onward. Forte, K5, Seltos, Sorento, Soul, Sportage, Telluride. A related code, KDT, covers the two-tone version. |
| C7S | Wolf Gray | 2021 onward. K5, Sorento, Sportage, Telluride. |
| GWP | Glacial White Pearl | 2021 onward on K5, Sorento, Sportage and Telluride. Three-coat white, sold by some suppliers as White Tricoat. |
| ABT | Platinum Graphite | Roughly 2010 to 2024, metallic. Sorento among others. |
| 4SS | Silky Silver | Roughly 2015 to 2025, metallic. Carnival, Rio, Sorento. Also appears as YSS. |
| 3D | Bright Silver | 2007 to 2018, metallic. Amanti, Optima, Sorento, Spectra. A two-character legacy code. |
| ADR | Passion Red | Three-coat metallic red on K5 and Sorento. Listed by some suppliers as Passion Red Tintcoat. |
This list is not every colour Kia has sold. Always confirm against the label on your own vehicle before ordering paint.
What to know before you order paint
- A 17-character VIN does not carry the paint code. NHTSA's vPIC decoder, the public database behind most free VIN tools, publishes 144 decodable variables and not one of them is an exterior colour or paint field — checked directly against the GetVehicleVariableList endpoint. Any service returning a Kia paint code from a VIN is reading a manufacturer build record through a dealer channel, or inferring it from the model and year, which fails the moment a colour was optional.
- Kia switched code length over time. PaintRef's Kia cross-reference shows two-character codes on older cars (UD Clear White from 1998, EB Ebony Black from 1995, 3D Bright Silver 2007-2018, 9H Cherry Black) and three-character codes on newer ones (SWP from 2010, ABP from 2013, KLG and ERG from 2020, C7S and GWP from 2021). Both lengths are valid; a two-character code on a 2005 Spectra is not a truncated code.
- Two-tone Kias carry one combination code, not two. PaintRef's Seltos listings record GAG as Clear White with a black roof, GA4 as Dark Ocean Blue with a white roof, GA5 as the same blue with a black roof, GA7 as Starbright Yellow with a black roof, and F1D and FA1 as later black-roof combinations. That combination code is not the code you order body paint under — the body colour has its own single-tone code (UD for Clear White, BU3 for Dark Ocean Blue), and the roof needs its own black.
- Kia's pearl and tri-coat whites are three-stage finishes. PaintRef flags SWP Snow White Pearl and GWP Glacial White Pearl as 3-coat, and refinish suppliers such as TamcoPaint and RepaintSupply sell SWP as a tri-stage basecoat system. A single-stage white mixed to the same code will read visibly wrong. Kia also runs true matte codes — KLM Steel Matte Gray on the EV6, MGG Shadow Matte Gray on the Sportage — which must not be polished or clear-coated conventionally.
- The door-jamb location is not model-specific. AutomotiveTouchup states plainly that all paint codes for all Kia models are in the driver-side door jamb and lists Amanti, Optima, Rio, Rondo, Sedona, Sephia, Sorento, Spectra and Sportage individually; YouCanic independently places it on the black VIN sticker in the same jamb, at the top right. We do not return paint codes from a VIN on this site, and no free VIN decoder can.
Kia and refinish sources
Open the underlying public source and verify that its scope matches the question you are asking.
- vPIC decodable variable list (no colour or paint field among 144 variables)NHTSA
- Kia paint colour code cross-reference, 2023 model year and by codePaintRef.com
- Paint Codes For Kia — location by modelAutomotiveTouchup (Microfinish LLC)
- Kia Paint Code LocationYouCanic
- Kia touch-up paint code and colour name indexScratchesHappen
Kia paint code questions
Can I find my Kia paint code from the VIN?
No. The 17-character VIN encodes plant, model, engine, restraint system and a check digit, but no colour. NHTSA's vPIC database exposes 144 decodable fields and none of them is paint or exterior colour. A Kia dealer can look up your colour using the VIN, but they are querying Kia's factory build record, not decoding the number itself. The label in the driver's door jamb is the reliable route.
Where is the paint code on a Kia Telluride, Sportage or Sorento?
In the driver-side door jamb, on the black Kia Motors Corporation label that also carries the VIN. The code sits at the upper right, next to the heading PAINT. This is the same position on every current Kia — Telluride, Sportage, Sorento, K5, Carnival, Seltos, Soul, Niro and EV6 — and on older ones back to the Sephia and Spectra. There is no model-specific alternate location.
How many characters is a Kia paint code?
Two or three, mixing letters and digits, with no dash or space. Older Kias generally use two — UD, EB, 3D, 9H — and cars from roughly 2010 onward use three, such as SWP, ABP, KLG, C7S and GWP. Both are complete codes. If you have copied four or more characters you have probably picked up part of the trim or model code printed on the same label.
My Kia is two-tone. Which code do I order paint under?
Neither the roof code nor the body code alone — the label shows a single combination code. On the Seltos, GAG means a Clear White body with a black roof, GA4 means Dark Ocean Blue with a white roof, and GA5 the same blue with a black roof. To repair the body you need that body colour's own single-tone code (UD, BU3), and the roof needs its black code. Ask the supplier to resolve the combination code first.
Why does my Snow White Pearl Kia need more than one paint?
SWP is a three-stage finish, not a single colour. It is a white ground coat, a translucent pearl mid-coat, then clear. Ordering SWP as a single-stage white gives a flat, slightly grey result that reads wrong in daylight. Glacial White Pearl (GWP) works the same way, as do several Kia reds including Passion Red (ADR). Buy the full tri-coat kit and test on a card first.
The label in my door jamb is missing or unreadable. What now?
Call a Kia dealer parts department with the VIN and ask them to read the paint code off the factory build record. That record is what dealers actually query, and it is the only route that does not depend on the physical label. Check both faces of the door opening first, including the hinge side, since a second information sticker sometimes carries the same code. Do not accept a code guessed from the colour's marketing name.
Is Kia's Clear White code UD or 1D?
Both. Kia has printed Clear White as UD and as 1D depending on model and build, and paint databases list them as the same colour. Either code will get you the right white. This kind of duplication is common on Kia: Silky Silver appears as 4SS and YSS, Cherry Black as 9H and 9P, Interstellar Gray as AGT and AG9. Use whichever code your label actually shows.
Does the same Kia paint code mean the same colour on every model and year?
Usually yes for the code itself, but the mixing formula can vary. Codes like SWP and ABP have run for over a decade across many models, and the colour is nominally identical. Refinish suppliers still keep year and plant variants of the formula because pigment batches drift. Give the shop your model year and VIN alongside the code, and always spray a test card before committing to a panel.